but lipo's are not legal

They may not be TCS legal...but most clubs will allow them if the racers agree. And they are superior! I can race all 3 qualifiers and the main with the same pack and not re-peak all day!

Not to rain on your parade!
I can do the same with a 3300 stick pack.

Yep but in order to keep the pack performing the same for as long as possible you'll have to cycle it and all the other stuff that goes along with NiMh. Try charging your 3300 3 days before the race and then use it all day long. Also try using that same pack a year from now after using only that single pack for every race every weekend. There will be a significant drop off in performance...but not with LiPo.

I'm not saying anybody needs to go out and get Lipos...if you don't like 'em, fine. And I'm not sure why a lot of diehards seem to feel a personal threat from them. Even though I am 100% Lipo I still would love to talk with any one of you about minis! Most of the people I have talked with that are against Lipos have no real reason for disliking them...other than lack of first hand experience. Most think they are gonna blow your house up or somehow cause WW3. I just want to spread the word to some that are interested, that's all. Hopefully most see my Lipo info as just that, info. There is so much misinformation out there about Lipos that someone needs to tell from real experiences...not what their brothers uncles nephews daughter heard about Lipos. Once again..if you like NIMHs...great..I don't. I think they are a money pit as well as a dead or near dead technology that need constant maintenence. It truely is just a matter of time...that's it...I'm just trying to stay ahead of the curve.

And I'm not sure why it's my parade. And if your local track and racers agree...why does anyone else care???

Gee I was only teasing!

Is this the mini thread or lipo thread.? Ahh who cares i run the orion3200 lipo and it truly rocks! I shrink wrap it too look like all my other nimh packs and they all wonder where i get all that extra boost from... hehehehe. But they all know i have it now.. it was just good fun for a while.

What do most of you do to your cars in between heats? Mainly I am trying to figure out what to do with the motor after running it. Do I just leave it? Comm drops? Also, how often do you re-build your shocks? any other info would be helpful too. Thanks in advanced!

Keith

Check that the transmission is spinning freely and that the suspension moves without binding also.. check also that your tires are properly glued to the rims, re oil bushings, let motor cool..

Every 3 heats, i would say take it out for a bunch of motor spray.

No need to rebuild shocks between heats, unless they massively leak etc..
after every race is more than enough..
I tend to avoid using comm drops on black can or Mabuchi type motors, you always end up putting too much and they gunk up the comm more than anything.. natural lubrication from teh stock brushes should be enough on those motors.

Question about asphalt setup...what the basic tire/spring/oil/droop/swaybar starting point. So far I started with type As yellow front red rear springs. 3 hole pistons 60/40 wt oil...but what shock length do you guys use for a slightly bumpy parking lot?

40 in the rear with red springs seems really soft.. maybe 60 all around would be a tad better for a bumpy track while still keeping reds in the rear..

I think maybe the old-style non-adjustable upper links with the step screws actually help to hold the rear hubs steady. The new ball-joint style upper links can pivot freely not just up and down but front and back as well, so I guess (like most cars today) they rely on tight tolerances of the lower arms to keep the slop out. And we all know about the slop in M-chassis arms and hubs.

OK folks, just trying to gauge interest here, but ....

My home track, S&N Trackside, had a "Rubber Tire Stock Nationals" race here a few weeks ago. Unique format, with three qualifiers, then the top 32 qualifiers have 6 races of heads up racing, best four races count by finishing order - two day Sat/Sun event. Those top 32 are randomly assigned to their 6 heads up, on the tone, races - you race with a variety of people, all heads up. Those who don't make the top 32 go to a an "open" class of standard triple A, double B format, C and lower format. You wind up with two champions - the "expert 32" champ and the "open" winner. One and only one class - stock rubber tired touring cars. CO27 motors and handout tires only. Lots of fun. Every one ends up with lots of racing: experts race 9 times, the "opens" have 7-8 runs each over the weekend of racing.

As I was there participating and watching the action, I thought - hey maybe this format would work for a BIG Mini only race. Mini's are the most popular TCS class by far. My thought is: Have this format race in very late fall, early winter, in that awful down time between TCS Nationals in August and before TCS officially starts in February/March, when all the TCS guys are just itching to get started on a new season. Heck, maybe we could try and hold it at about the same time the TCS Nationals winner is enjoying his trip to Japan. Mini only event - any version M03, or M04M, running 60D series Tamiya tires. Touring cars need not apply!

How many people might be interested in coming up to Milwaukee to do this? If we could get a promised turnout of greater than 60 (like Memphis TCS did with their minis this past weekend) we might be able to make this happen. Great facility, the best announcer/host in RC - Scotty Ernst. TCS rules would apply. There would be a common grab box of new motors for the event, and you would use one motor one round, then eveyone puts the motors back in the box and grabs blind again for the next round, and so on. This grab box approach means you would not be facing that 1 in 100 super motor that some guys are able to find - level motor playing field. Moderate entry fee. Bring (or preferably buy here - support your local hobby shop/raceway) your own choice of tires, NIMH batteries.

Please let me know if you would like to see this happen and would attend.

(This subject was originally posted in the TCS Racing thread just a couple of days ago, but I looking to guage interest from all Tamiya Mini drivers, so have repeated it here. I hope no one is offended by the cross posting. We already have a number of replies in the TCS Racing Thread, so see what others are already thinking.)

guys, can anyone tell me what's wrong with my kit? I have this m03R, and there is this sound (when you turn, "not steer ha", the front wheels without the motor), it's like there's a stone that is trap inside the gear box but I cleaned and checked it, there is no problem or any, I've also checked the axles, dogbones, outdrive, etc, there is also nothing... what could have been causing the annoying sound?

this just happened when I tried it to run on the dirt (rally)... but before that, I don't hear anything, it just so happens when I tried running it on the dirt...

That sounds very interesting. Having something large like this outside of TCS might become very popular. I would be interested in making the trip. I missed Memphis and would like to see/participate in something like this.

I like the random motor proposal. A spec battery would help even things out too. Mandate a connector so people know what to expect, and shuffle the batteries too. Mayhem at its finest....